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Chapter 11 - Nostalgia (CF)
The euphoria Tubba had felt at seeing Gonzales and Blizzerd was unmitigated. He had harboured his doubts - how trustworthy was Ludwig? How trustworthy was Chubba? The way he had been blackmailed back into indentured servitude was because he had to save Gonzales and Blizzerd. If he had been cheated... Tubba didn’t want to think about the what ifs. All that mattered to him was that he was with some of his oldest friends. The flaming haired Clubba Gonzales, his oldest friend, all the way back from their humble beginnings in Gusty Gulch, starting grade school together at the age of four - twenty-six years, now. The elderly Bandit Mud, who he had met sixteen years ago, who had become his right-hand man, the person he would trust with his life, when Gonzales had abandoned him on the Clubba Cliff. The young prodigy Blizzerd, now a young man, all of eighteen years old, who had idolized him as a battler, joined his team at the tender age of twelve, endured being turned into a Barribad for him, and fought alongside him. Gonzales had not changed much, holding the same flaming orange hair, shining dark blue scales, pearly white teeth when he smiled, light grey shell, along with the same supportive attitude he had had, never letting Tubba fight a battle alone when they were kids. Blizzerd, however, had changed by leaps and bounds. Not only was he back to the original Wizzerd he had once been, with his two semicircular halves dark black with their light beige rims surrounding his body, his pupils bouncing lazily around in his dark blue irises in the top half, and his antenna poking out above them, orange balls at the tip to express emotions, Blizzerd’s once-cocky and “world revolves around me” attitude had shifted to a modest young man, while keeping the wit and loyalty that had made him a fantastic friend in the first place. Of course, many a story had to be had, for the friends had not seen each other for years. The elephant in the room was Tubba’s missing tail, which allowed Tubba to delve into the story of his presence at Glitzville for the past six years, and the failure to properly teleport away from Glitzville under the blanket of night weeks ago. Eventually, the story turned to Gonzales and Blizzerd, and how, immediately after being taken away from Barrel Volcano, the two of them attempted to locate Tubba, only to realize they were wanted in the Mushroom, Koopa and BeanBean Kingdoms, much like Tubba himself. Unlike Tubba, however, they did not have Chubba, who was wont to not concede Tubba to the authorities. As luck would have it, they stumbled on the SS Mahruav docked at a Mushroom Kingdom port, where Tubba himself had hid as a fugitive - the SS Mahruav was a safe haven for fugitives, with Mud himself being one, having gone into immense gambling debt in the Pianta Parlor in Rogueport. Mud had taken the two in with open arms, and was stunned to learn of their relationship to the estranged captain of the SS Mahruav, Tubba. From there, Gonzales and Blizzerd integrated into the crew quite easily, and were fortunate to stumble upon the very same Magikoopa village they were now at, turning Blizzerd back into his natural state - a Wizzerd, rather than the Barribad he had been for four or five years. Blizzerd told Tubba that he honestly preferred being a Wizzerd, but a Barribad felt more natural to him. Barribad’s relied on immense magical energy to keep their bodies intact, whereas Wizzerd’s were made of more solid composition and could concentrate their magical energy in their attacks. The following days on the SS Mahruav were becoming acquainted with all the old faces again - among them, Stual, Mud’s brother, Baran, Clam, Shaye, all of them reaching their older years, in their thirties, forties and fifties. Shaye, who had been seventeen when Tubba was last at the SS Mahruav, was now thirty-three, and still in her role as Medi Gal. A small blue Shy Gal, she was dedicated to her craft, having spent long nights with her patients constantly over the years, as Tubba heard from Mud. She was devastated for a few years, when despite her best efforts, she could not save Clarea from infection, a bandit who had been part of the original SS Mahruav. Baran had been one of the leaders of the SS Mahruav, and was still one of the senior figures, at the age of fifty, although his role had been greatly decreased - Mud had been trying to convince the old Bandit that they did not need his services as much as they did before, but the proud Bandit refused to stop working just as hard as the younger members of the SS Mahruav for the success of the crew. Tarz, Shellar and Clam, a tight group of friends when Tubba had seen them last had barely changed, only slouching over slightly as the years appeared on their faces, in the case of Shellar and Clam, two Koopas, in slightly duller scales on their body, as well as a more nicked up and beaten shell, yellow for Clam, blue for Shellar. As for Tarz, the Bandit, white hair was beginning to show from underneath his mask, his green robes were ragged and patched up from years on the SS Mahruav, but he refused to buy new ones. Shyuz, Hail and Bright, three Shy Gal sisters when Tubba was last on the SS Mahruav, had left the SS Mahruav years ago, according to Mud, having disembarked in the Kremling Islands, and Mud told Tubba that he had not stopped them - why would he? They had the right to leave the SS Mahruav if they wanted to, this was not the reign of Gerald, where the people aboard the SS Mahruav had no right to leave, and were eventually traded back to the place where they were fugitives. Karoppa, a Koopa, too had left the SS Mahruav, bidding farewell a year ago for the BeanBean Kingdom, clearly with some underhanded business to accomplish, Mud said. Karoppa was always a little reclusive, so Tubba figured that he was not that large of a loss. Apparently, not long after Tubba left, Werch, a large and lanky red-shelled Koopa, got together with Koolae, another red-shelled Koopa, and the two of them had two daughters, named Friselta and Miran, both of them inheriting their father’s lankiness. They were the youngest members on the crew, just sixteen and fifteen, respectively. Werch, unfortunately, did not spend much time with his daughters, dying of a contagious disease that also claimed Quack. Yawur, the Koopa chef, was still on the SS Mahruav, spending all of his time in the kitchen, and even getting Lari, another old face, a Shy Gal, to help out in the kitchen, a change from a few years ago, when Yawur was the only person cooking for the ship. Tubba smiled; Yawur had a passion for cooking that not many others understood, with his black shell often being dirtied and grimied with various cooking condiments as he worked nonstop - Tubba was glad that Yawur had got company in the kitchen. The remaining old faces were Huyn, Belet and Mud’s siblings, Stual and Zual. Stual was nineteen and a hot head at the time of their last excursion, being a bit acrimonious to his older brother Mud. Zual, their sister, was the complete opposite, a soft-spoken, quiet Bandit, who was always supportive of Mud and the decisions he made. Now, both in their thirties, they had changed only slightly. Stual still called Mud out at every turn, and Zual was still a quiet, shy Bandit. Huyn, a Shy Gal, and Belet, a female Koopa, had changed marginally, from being a bit narcissistic in their teenage years to helping around more on the SS Mahruav, and were much more serious than before, when they barely got involved in the fight with Gerald. New faces included - a young, absentminded Fuzzy male named Fiero, who was just twenty, and a large male orange Clubba named Paralus, who was twenty-two, and did not mince words - choosing his words comprehensively. Peatrice was a sturdy Beanish girl who was a bit reclusive, but clearly enjoyed the company of Musker, a new Shy Guy who was another healer, working with Shaye as the medic while dropping his large, humorous wit all over the place. The complete contrast was Lakilu, a studious Lakitu woman who had a very poor sense of humour, taking everything seriously. While Fiero, Peatrice, Lakilu and Musker were certainly interesting characters, Fiero being a fast friend of Blizzerd’s, Paralus... intrigued Tubba. Paralus certainly came from Gusty Gulch - Tubba was certain of that, for there were not many places in the Mushroom Kingdom for a Clubba if they weren’t from Gusty Gulch - yes, various groups of Clubbas still lived in select villages, but by far, the former Clubba Kingdom Confronting Gonzales about the origins of Paralus, Gonzales informed Tubba that the Clubba held no secrets - everyone knew that Paralus was from Gusty Gulch. Taking the time to encounter the young Clubba on the edge of the ship one day, Tubba bombarded him with questions of what Gusty Gulch had become like for a Clubba - Paralus was wanted by the Koopas for abandoning Gusty Gulch in the past six years, Tubba learned from Mud - Paralus, in his deep, clear and concise voice, explained the fate of the Clubbas. “The Gulch is desolate now.” Tubba learned from Paralus as he encountered his brethren by the railing of the ship, Paralus’ eyes dull as he recounted the story. “The Koopas ruined it. Clubbas don’t know who to trust, if anyone is in the league with the Koopas. Our freedom is still craved by so many, but we don’t know who to tell, for fear of our less than adequate leaders finding out we are planning to overthrow them. No one likes wandering outside, in the previously bustling sandstone streets. It’s a state of eternal wartime.” Tubba’s memory flashed back to his times in Gusty Gulch, the times he looked at with such fondness, having aged a century since. Growing up in grade school, with Gonzales by his side, the bond between him and his brother yet to break comprehensively, like thin ice shattering under a large weight. The only two problems he had in those days were Bubba and Chubba. The Gulch had treated him well, and had treated the citizens well, the people in the streets and the squares talking, coexisting peacefully, living in a stable state. A stark contrast to what Tubba’s home had become. Tubba strode toward the school, a young Gonzales by his side. The two of them had flaming orange hair, outlined by the setting sun. They had just finished a day at school, and were heading to their respective homes when they were stopped by a Clubban vendor, who gave them a piece of fruit, true delicacies in Gusty Gulch, out of the goodness of her heart. There was nothing to fear in the Gusty Gulch of old. Everyone looked out for each other. "That’s not to suggest we hadn’t tried,” Paralus continued, looking out at the waves in the bright sunlight. “Of course, the task was soon beyond us - it was impossible to organize ourselves in any way without any spy of the Koopas finding out. The ones that were caught were thrown in the Clubba Castle jail to rot away - we never saw them again, and that scared many people off. Once, we tried to rally the crowd with no planning, to overwhelm the Koopas when they weren’t expecting it - when no one was expecting it. A massacre followed. Clubbas were killed in the battle, Tubba, and the Koopas passed it off as an unfortunate accident as they tried to ‘retain order.’” Again, Tubba realized that Gusty Gulch had lost the aura of his hometown. It was no longer the safe place that he had played with Gonzales and other young Clubbas on the dusty sands, with nothing to fear from external forces - the carefree days were covered by a peace that the Gulch had known for decades at this point, and a peace that the new Clubbas being born would never experience. It was a chastening thought. ''Tubba tossed the ball to Gonzales, who grabbed it, before dropping it to his feet and kicking it in the direction of Tubba. Two stones on either side of Tubba marked a net. Tubba deflected the ball away with his hands, punching the air in delight as he did so. There was no worry in Gusty Gulch, there was no need to be afraid of the humble King that was Tubba’s father. All that had changed. '' Unable to bring himself to question Paralus more, Tubba looked out to the east, where the Gulch lurked, far, far beyond the light blue horizon, beyond, and beyond the crashing waves. The place where he had born had given him everything, and he had not only forsaken it, he had lost the battle to reclaim it six years ago. To hear how far his hometown had fallen... it tore Tubba’s heartstrings.